"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will arrive in Kyiv early on May 10.
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
Ukrainian business tycoon and one of Ukraine's most famous billionaires, Ihor Kolomoisky, at a court hearing in Kyiv on Sept. 2, 2023. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security reported on Aug. 21 that it had concluded a pre-trial investigation against Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's most infamous business tycoons, was arrested on Sept. 2, 2023, for alleged fraud, illegal acquisition of property, and money laundering related to his oil and gas holdings. He is the wealthiest businessman to have landed behind bars in Ukraine's independent history.
Kolomoisky's defense now has access to the pre-trial investigation materials for review, the Bureau of Economic Security said. Meanwhile, the investigation against other members of the group allegedly organized and managed by the oligarch is ongoing, according to the statement.
The completed investigation concerns the alleged illegal actions with bank documents when the suspect failed to deposit Hr 5.8 billion (around $140 million) into the bank's cash desk and the embezzlement of over Hr 5.3 billion (around $129 million).
The prosecutors said that part of the money Kolomoisky allegedly embezzled and transferred to his account, some Hr 2 billion ($48 million), was obtained at the expense of loans from PrivatBank, a Ukrainian bank formerly owned by Kolomoisky.
The bureau also said its detectives proved that Kolomoisky had organized the illegal seizure of more than Hr 3.3 billion ($ 80 million) from Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producer previously affiliated with the oligarch.
The Prosecutor General's Office announced on May 8 that Kolomoisky was also suspectedof ordering the murder of the head of a law firm more than 20 years ago in Crimea.
Kolomoisky, together with five associates, was charged by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) with embezzling Hr 9.2 billion ($223 million) from PrivatBank, the NABU announced on Sept. 7, 2024.
In 2016, the Ukrainian government nationalized PrivatBank, the country's largest bank - when Kolomoisky co-owned it, the bank's fraudulent activities left a $5.5 billion hole in its ledger.
Igor Kossov
